Audio: Palin rips Chicago school for boycotting girls basketball tournament in Arizona; Video: Students speak out

posted at 2:54 pm on May 13, 2010 by Allahpundit

Excellent. The school’s boycott was already on Fox’s radar but Sarahcuda picking it up pushes it into national media, which is where it deserves to be. Not only is the hypocrisy astounding — the bien-pensants in charge evidently had no moral objection to letting students visit China — but the idea of punishing kids over politics is a guaranteed backlash-starter. It has, my friends, come to this:

Safety concerns partly fueled the decision, but the trip also “would not be aligned with our beliefs and values,” said District 113 Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson. That explanation, though, smacks of political protest to parents upset by the decision…

“Why are we mixing politics and a basketball tournament?” said Michael Evans, whose daughter Lauren is a junior on the team. “It’s outrageous that they’re doing this under the guise of safety.”…

“Many of the parents feel that this should be resolved in the judicial court, not the basketball court,” said Cynde Munzer, whose daughter, Lena, is a freshman on the team.

“I disagree personally with the Arizona legislation, but I also feel strongly about young women’s rights,” Munzer said. “They don’t want to get involved in politics.”

Let’s hope Rasmussen or someone polls this soon; I’d be surprised if opposition to the school’s move is under 80 percent. Exit question: Has sports boycott fee-vah now officially started to fizzle? Exit answer: Sure looks like it!

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Comments

This is so typical of the left. It’s their way of saying, as usual, the debate is over we are right and therefore have decided to bar the girls from going to that bad state Arizona. Anyone who disagrees with us is a Nazi.

If pressed on this, “safety issue”, the person would reveal that they are concerned because of the violence being encouraged by Arizona Whiteys, of course any oppressed brown people have the right to engage in destruction of property and physical violence against people, as long as those people are the right color and the right political belief system.

The ASSistant Superindendent should be fired simply for spelling her name “Suzan”. What the hell is that?

Doughboy on May 13, 2010 at

Maybe her mother was Hispanic and wanted to name her daughter Susan, but could not spell it?

Just a note: my name is Susan, and I live in a predominantly Hispanic city, and have noticed that for some unknown reason, a lot of Hispanics spell my name “Suzan.” When I got married, my husband and I received a couple of nice engraved gifts with our names on them from his mother’s Hispanic family, guess how they spelled my name? Anyone need a nice silver picture frame or album?

Gosh, I love Sarah Palin so much. But I have to say it again… Sarah, please… change your diction. That’s all it will take. I grew up in NYC and had a very offensive accent. I learned to speak. Rush talked about this the other day as well. He said he got rid of his “Missouri Twang” and learned to speak so that nobody could tell where he was from.

You’re right that sadly, our votes have become not enough for the current crop in power.

So we need to get involved and get them out.

I’ve been an active tea partier for almost a year now. Several of us have joined our town’s RTCs and DTCs and been named delegates to shake up our state reps. We’re preparing to do the same nationally.

Unless you are getting involved in politics to boot out those who won’t listen, it won’t happen.

About 20 hunger strikers, mostly students, had camped out in front of the school’s administration building since May 3. Their initial protest target was Arizona’s new immigration law, which requires police to stop and question anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.

——————-

Although I’d have “killed” to have seen this, from same article:

The demonstration ended in a display of Berkeley multiculturalism.

One protester blessed his cohorts’ corn cobs, for their connection to Mother Earth. Four dancers dressed as cornstalks, including one of the strikers, twirled and gestured ceremonially to a percussion beat.

Fifteen strikers then munched on the corn, to the cheers of about 150 supporters. A 16th student, Alejandro Lara-Briseño, who was too weak to stand but told the crowd he would continue fasting until he visits a sister in Arizona next Thursday and gets her approval.

Shortly afterward, negotiators, including another striker, emerged from a two-hour meeting with Birgenau and his aides and said the chancellor had addressed most of their demands.

I think it might be unconstitutional for government agencies to boycott Arizona. If a school district can do it, then state commerce and transportation agencies should be able to do it, and Arizona could ban Illinois products from entering the state. There is no good reason for Arizona to remain in the Union if other states can legally boycott them.

Baracky is encouraging this whole boycott business. There is a proper channel to voice objections(as stupid as they are) to Arizona law and that is the court system. If every state and city would take recent actions by LA city concil and other such morons as some kind of precedent, it will lead to coast to coast anarchy. These continuing intra-country boycotts are idiotic and have to stop. But, the divider in chief has no interest in putting an end to this nonsense, it seems.

For gods sake prove me wrong then… I dare you to… You dont even have a clue how badly I want to be wrong…

doriangrey on May 13, 2010 at 4:08 PM

You are wrong. It is uncalled for eyeorism that you were saying before. If you give up before the fight begins, there is no way you can win anything.

The voters in America still control the system, as per the Constitution. We will prevail, so long as we fight them every step of the way, and be damned sure not to stay home when it counts most.

Look at the polls, issue by issue. The agenda of this Congress and President is universally unpopular.

Look at the attendance of the Tea Parties. Everywhere.

There is hope. All is not lost. It depends on folks like you and me staying engaged, step by step, fighting back anywhere and everywhere possible until it is time to hit the ballot box and have our say Constitutionally enacted. That is how the Bamster got elected in the first place.
He won enough Americans to his side to be elected and inaugurated. Now, many of the voters who put him in there are having buyer’s remorse, and are coming home.
Let’s be there to welcome them.

Giving up now is precisely what they want us to do.

If we quit, they win again and we are really screwed.

Now is not the time for equivocating. Now is the time to gear up and throw these interlopers out on their azzez!

Now is not the end, nor is it the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.

Fight them at the School Board, fight them at the City Council, fight them in the State Legislatures, fight them in Congress and the White House!

I wish our nation could shake off this horrible case of B.O. that we’ve had to endure for the last 16 months. It’s starting to stink, and the only deodorant-disinfectant is Patriotism and Decisive Victory against communism, marxism and fascism that has been attacking our nation since 1/20/10. Come on 11/2/10!!!!

I find it more than outrageous that the school made a decision based on individual political beliefs of certain members as if they own the kids and to not consult the parents! Suzan and her I’ll should be run out of the school on a rail… There are two radio jocks here in L. A. John and Ken who have been going after the school regarding this… No one who calls in agrees with what Suzan and her little Marxist group did… They would have gotten away with this if not for the publicity they are getting now.

BTW L. A. Has about 5 in basin power plants which generates most of the city’s electricity. It gets very little from AZ… Our water comes mostly from the Sierras

I have a simple solution:
Just trade this girls championship basketball team to Arizona in exchange for a hundred and fifty illegal aliens and their kids. Then this liberal school board can be sooo proud of their country everyday when they have to deal with the rapes, theft, drugs,knifings,drunken car crashes, kindnappings, and get to pay for the entitlements.

Heard this on the radio this morning. I’d love to hear folks wonder aloud at the message this administration is sending to it’s students that they apparently support the notion that laws and rules are optional.

Really, Superintendent? Sure sounds like you’re telling your district’s students that they need not bother with your rules and regulations if they simply prefer not to observe them…

This has-been ball player/Wasilla Warrior would like to send a shout out of support to the Highland Park High School Giants Girls Basketball Team in Illinois. These girls have been working, having bake sales, and saving money for months in order play in a hoop tournament in Arizona. They’ve won their school’s first conference title in 26 years, but now because a school bureaucrat – an assistant superintendent – wants to play politics, they’re not allowed to play ball.

Keeping girls off the court for political reasons? As I said last night in Illinois: “Them’s fightin’ words.”

The assistant superintendent claims that a trip to Arizona “would not be aligned with our beliefs and values.” But apparently the school has no problem sending kids on trips to China, which has a population control policy that is anti-girl in practice – contributing to female infanticide and abandonment and sex-selective abortions. So, is China – with its many serious human rights violations (too many to list here) – “aligned” with the “values and beliefs” of the school? But our sister-state of Arizona is not? Really? This is ridiculous and totally unfair to the girls who just want to play ball. Going to Arizona to play in a tournament will not endanger them, and the ban sure doesn’t solve the problem of unsecured borders.

These boycotts of Arizona will not help the state or lead to positive change. Economic and political boycotts of our nation’s 48th state will hurt all Arizonans – including all members of the Hispanic community. If people really want to help, they should tell President Obama to do his job: secure the border. If he were to do his job, the good people of Arizona, who have been overwhelmed by violence on their border, would not feel compelled to do it for him.

In the meantime, let’s help the girls “go rogue” and go play ball. Please take a look at this Facebook page set up on their behalf:

This has-been ball player/Wasilla Warrior would like to send a shout out of support to the Highland Park High School Giants Girls Basketball Team in Illinois. These girls have been working, having bake sales, and saving money for months in order play in a hoop tournament in Arizona. They’ve won their school’s first conference title in 26 years, but now because a school bureaucrat – an assistant superintendent – wants to play politics, they’re not allowed to play ball.

Keeping girls off the court for political reasons? As I said last night in Illinois: “Them’s fightin’ words.”

The assistant superintendent claims that a trip to Arizona “would not be aligned with our beliefs and values.” But apparently the school has no problem sending kids on trips to China, which has a population control policy that is anti-girl in practice – contributing to female infanticide and abandonment and sex-selective abortions. So, is China – with its many serious human rights violations (too many to list here) – “aligned” with the “values and beliefs” of the school? But our sister-state of Arizona is not? Really? This is ridiculous and totally unfair to the girls who just want to play ball. Going to Arizona to play in a tournament will not endanger them, and the ban sure doesn’t solve the problem of unsecured borders.

These boycotts of Arizona will not help the state or lead to positive change. Economic and political boycotts of our nation’s 48th state will hurt all Arizonans – including all members of the Hispanic community. If people really want to help, they should tell President Obama to do his job: secure the border. If he were to do his job, the good people of Arizona, who have been overwhelmed by violence on their border, would not feel compelled to do it for him.

In the meantime, let’s help the girls “go rogue” and go play ball. Please take a look at this Facebook page set up on their behalf.

My kid had an AP project for AmGovernment. “Choose your Political Party”. So, he chose Republican. Put together a poster and worked all weekend to perfect it. His choices were MLK, Jr., Reagan and Lincoln. He included quotes from each, photos, examples, etc.

Safety concerns partly fueled the decision, but the trip also “would not be aligned with our beliefs and values,” said District 113 Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson.

Since when do liberals have values?

Snark aside: there is no safety issue. What is the concern? That these high school students will come into “lawful contact” with the police while in Arizona and playing basketball, then do something to make those police have a reasonable suspicion that they are not legally in America, and, finally, not be able to show the fine officers of Arizona that they are, in fact, Americans? Is the school committee trying to live up to the sad reality that education majors have the lowest SAT scores and IQs of any group of professionals?

I’ve been saying for a long time that Palin probably isn’t running for President. I really believe she’s chosen to become the Conservative “Boudica” and has decided to take on the LSM, and Liberals in her “Pit Bull from Hell” role that she’s crafted quite nicely for herself.

I love how the woman just sits back until the Libbies make a totally stupid strategic mistake that just begs to be attacked – then she’s in there – teeth and lipstick and all ripping them a new one!

I don’t know of any other Republicans who do this. They are all too concerned about their “image” … she doesn’t seem to be that concerned though.

I believe under Federal Law it is illegal for any state to boycott another.

I think it might be unconstitutional for government agencies to boycott Arizona. If a school district can do it, then state commerce and transportation agencies should be able to do it, and Arizona could ban Illinois products from entering the state. There is no good reason for Arizona to remain in the Union if other states can legally boycott them.